Lilia Podkopaeva, whose biography is described in the article, is a woman whose name went down in history. The victories of the athlete will be proud of more than one generation. The ingenious tricks of the gymnast will not be repeated soon by her followers.
Childhood
Lilia Alexandrovna Podkopaeva was born (a biography is set out below) on August 15, 1978 in the city of Donetsk in Ukraine (then the USSR). Her family was not rich. The future Olympic woman was brought up by mother and grandmother, since her father left them, as soon as little Lily managed to be born. From childhood, the future gymnast was very restless, the energy in the little girl was in full swing. As Lilia herself later said: “My mother did not know what to do with me, all the time I ran away from kindergarten, raced on a bicycle, I had to remove from the tops of trees every now and then, I ran around the roofs all the time, playing with the boys catching up and could not sit for a second in one place."
After conferring, the Podkopayeva family decided that it was impossible to waste such a charge of energy. Therefore, they decided to give the girl to the sports section. In 1983, when little Lily was already five years old, her grandmother Evelina Mikhailovna took her granddaughter to the Dynamo sports club in the gym. It was from this day that the sporting life and biography of Lilia Podkopayeva began. “For the first time, having entered the hall, I felt that he would become an integral part of me, ” Lilia herself recalls. “We came to work for the result, ” - with these words, the grandmother of the future champion turned to the coach. Hearing these words, the little girl took them to heart and promised herself in no way to betray the hope and faith of her family in her.
Training and sport
Lilia Podkopaeva, whose biography is very interested in her fans, is Leo according to the zodiac sign. A distinctive feature of Lviv is the desire to be the first, the desire to win all, to prove to everyone that they are the best, to occupy a podium in life. It is these qualities from early childhood that Liliya Podkopaeva possessed, her biography confirms this. She always gathered her will into a fist and strove for her goal.
Although the little five-year-old girl who came to her first gymnastics training did not surprise the coaches with her talent, she soon amazed everyone with her hard work and perseverance. After a very short time, sport has become one of the main components of the life of a gymnast.
Everyone knows that the life of athletes is incredibly complicated, and the biography of Lilia Podkopaeva was no exception. Every day, the girl was forced to wake up at five in the morning, in a hurry to pack up and run for morning training, then have breakfast on the go and run to school. After school, the girl dined in the school cafeteria and ran to evening training. Tired and exhausted, she returned home only at nine in the evening, and yet she still had to do school homework. Late in the evening, Lilia went to bed, and from the early morning everything again ran in a circle. Many of the teenager’s surroundings were surprised: “How has she still not fallen without strength from such loads, where does she get so much endurance and perseverance?”
Later, the gymnast admits that she herself does not know how she managed to combine so many things, however, perseverance and hard work invariably led her to success. Lilia Podkopaeva worked at the Olympic base, which was not only very honorable for any athlete, but also very difficult. Only on New Year's Eve athletes were given a rest. For a week they were allowed to go home and spend time with family. But it was the only weekend of the year.
The rest of the time, Podkopaeva trained. Training lasted 8 hours a day, but the future champion, gritted her teeth, went to her goal. At a time when her one-year-old began the time of summer vacations and a carefree vacation, the young athlete was leaving for a sports base in the cultural capital. She was very fond of St. Petersburg fees. For this period, the girl had a birthday. Coaches drove the group to the museums of the city, walked and admired the beautiful St. Petersburg architecture.
Debut
She made her debut in the big sports arena in 1993, Lilia Podkopaeva. Her biography was replenished with a new significant event. These were international gymnastics competitions. There, for the first time, great horizons opened up for her, for the first time she spoke to a large audience and proudly presented herself with dignity at these competitions. What else will the short biography of Lilia Podkopaeva tell? Interesting facts from her life are described below.
Achievements and rewards
In 1995, Lilia Podkopaeva became the owner of the European Cup and won the title of absolute world champion in gymnastics.
In 1996, this Ukrainian gymnast won gold at the European Championships.
After all these accomplishments and victories, Lily set herself the next goal - the Olympic Games. The goal of the young athlete was supported by her coaches: Lilia Pugacheva, Galina Losinskaya, Oleg Ostapenko and Svetlana Dubova. It was a very serious step. After all, Lily was to represent on the world stage not only herself, but also her country. To this great achievement, the gymnast went 13 years through hard training, hard work on herself and huge moral and physical costs.
The XXVI Olympic Games were to be held in Atlanta, USA. For a young athlete, this was a major achievement in life. But a month before leaving for Atlanta, Lilia Podkopayeva died grandmother. It was Evelina Mikhailovna 13 years ago who brought the five-year-old girl to the big sport, it was she who believed in Lily most of all and supported her throughout the journey, and it was she who, no less than the athlete herself, was waiting for her granddaughter to go to the Olympic Games. Despite the family tragedy, Podkopaeva did not give up, she still gathered her courage and went to the United States. In the Georgia Dome, where the competition took place, the young Olympic woman was greeted with applause by 45 thousand spectators, among whom was US President Bill Clinton and his family.
At the Atlanta Olympics, Lilia Podkopaeva won two gold medals. The exercise “double backward somersault with a 180 ° turn” is a core exercise of Lilia Podkopaeva. Until now, no athlete in the world can repeat it! Standing on a pedestal, the gymnast thanked her late grandmother for her success, hoping that she saw her triumph from heaven.
Life after sports
What does Lilia Podkopaeva do after leaving sports? The biography, the personal life of a famous athlete is of interest to many. It is known that she began to work as a coach. She teaches children gymnastics in different countries of the world. Among her students were the children of Madonna and Antonio Banderas. She brings up in children not only sports skills, but also willpower and spirit.
Lily launched her sportswear brand in America. She was recognized as "Woman of the Year." The gymnast also takes an active part in the fight against AIDS and became the UN Goodwill Ambassador.
On tv
Lilia Podkopaeva starred in the entertainment television series Lesya + Roma. She played herself in the movie "Hold Me Tight".
